Singapore open badminton 2010 win
Singapore: Indian badminton ace Saina Nehwal clinched the second Super Series title of her career by winning the Singapore Open with a straight-game win over qualifier Tzu Ying Tai in the final here on Sunday.
The World No. 6 bagged her maiden Super Series title in June last year when she claimed the top honours at the Indonesian Open.
“I never expected to reach the final as there were two good Chinese players in the draw, but I believed in myself and got the result I wanted,” the jubilant 20-year-old said.
The in-form Saina came here after winning the India Open Grand Prix title only last week. “The Indian Open gave me the confidence to play well here,” she said.
Close affair
In a match that was a close affair to start with, Saina was locked 18-18 with her rival after trailing 8-14 at one stage. But Saina clinched the opening game with seven smash winners to show against her rival's three.
In the second game, Saina displayed a better net game and outwitted her rival in rallies to emerge triumphant.
Saina said she kept gaining in confidence as the match progressed. “I was nervous at the start of the match, but I maintained my strategy of playing more rallies,” she said.
“I was down 8-14 in the first game but I just told myself ‘play your best and give your 100 per cent' I think that really worked well for me,” she added.
Tricky opponent
Saina said her opponent, despite being a mere qualifier, had some tricks to unsettle her. “She defeated a few good players in the run-up to the final. She was in good rhythm and her strokes were falling well. At the start, I wasn't comfortable with her game. She had some tricky shots,” she said.
But as the minutes ticked by, Saina said she got a hang of her rival's strategy. “Slowly, I studied her game. I was down and very nervous that I would lose the match but I had the spirit to fight it out,” she said.
Saina's ranking is expected to improve with this triumph but the Hyderabadi said that climbing the charts was not her priority right now.
“It will help my rankings but that's not my focus right now. My focus is on the World championships and the Commonwealth Games. I might go into the top four but that doesn't bother me much. I am very happy that I won the tournament,” she said.
“Next is the Indonesian Open starting on Wednesday and I want to give my best in that,” she said.
Earlier, Saina rallied to beat fourth-seeded Lan Lu of China 8-21, 21-17, 21-8 in 49 minutes in the semifinals on Saturday.
Kashyap loses
In the men's singles, India's P. Kashyap lost to seventh-seeded Indonesian Sony Kuncoro 19-21, 20-22 in a hard-fought semifinal that lasted 48 minutes. Sony went on to beat Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 21-16, 21-16 in the final.
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| ON A ROLL:India's Saina Nehwal made short work of Chinese Taipei's Tzu Ying Tai in the final of the Singapore Open Super Series. |
Top-seeded Saina took just 33 minutes to beat Chinese Taipei's Tai 21-18, 21-15 at the Singapore Indoor Stadium here.
The World No. 6 bagged her maiden Super Series title in June last year when she claimed the top honours at the Indonesian Open.
“I never expected to reach the final as there were two good Chinese players in the draw, but I believed in myself and got the result I wanted,” the jubilant 20-year-old said.
The in-form Saina came here after winning the India Open Grand Prix title only last week. “The Indian Open gave me the confidence to play well here,” she said.
Close affair
In a match that was a close affair to start with, Saina was locked 18-18 with her rival after trailing 8-14 at one stage. But Saina clinched the opening game with seven smash winners to show against her rival's three.
In the second game, Saina displayed a better net game and outwitted her rival in rallies to emerge triumphant.
Saina said she kept gaining in confidence as the match progressed. “I was nervous at the start of the match, but I maintained my strategy of playing more rallies,” she said.
“I was down 8-14 in the first game but I just told myself ‘play your best and give your 100 per cent' I think that really worked well for me,” she added.
Tricky opponent
Saina said her opponent, despite being a mere qualifier, had some tricks to unsettle her. “She defeated a few good players in the run-up to the final. She was in good rhythm and her strokes were falling well. At the start, I wasn't comfortable with her game. She had some tricky shots,” she said.
But as the minutes ticked by, Saina said she got a hang of her rival's strategy. “Slowly, I studied her game. I was down and very nervous that I would lose the match but I had the spirit to fight it out,” she said.
Saina's ranking is expected to improve with this triumph but the Hyderabadi said that climbing the charts was not her priority right now.
“It will help my rankings but that's not my focus right now. My focus is on the World championships and the Commonwealth Games. I might go into the top four but that doesn't bother me much. I am very happy that I won the tournament,” she said.
“Next is the Indonesian Open starting on Wednesday and I want to give my best in that,” she said.
Earlier, Saina rallied to beat fourth-seeded Lan Lu of China 8-21, 21-17, 21-8 in 49 minutes in the semifinals on Saturday.
Kashyap loses
In the men's singles, India's P. Kashyap lost to seventh-seeded Indonesian Sony Kuncoro 19-21, 20-22 in a hard-fought semifinal that lasted 48 minutes. Sony went on to beat Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 21-16, 21-16 in the final.
